A New One-Man Show
A Little History—Part One
A Little History—Part Two
A Little History—Part Three
Goodbye To San Diego
Birth Of A Musical
Ahh... Florida!
We Find A Theater
Teaser Video — Funny. Watch it!
The Details
Putting It All Together
A Few Bumps
Update
Dan Rather Sues CBS
So, Tell Us, Uncle Neal, What Happened?
The day started like any other.
We went to lunch at a fine Greek restaurant. The waitress with a New York accent said, “Take a few minutes to decide while I grab your pita.” I fell on the floor laughing. Naomi kicked me in the head.
After lunch, back to work. We’ve got about 9 weeks until Showtime. Our friend Lori has been a big help in getting us introduced to some press people. There are some good possibilities for stories and reviews. That’s exactly what we need.
Besides rehearsing several days a week, I’m designing the web site, CD packaging, flyers, posters, programs (we’re calling our programs “Paybills instead of “Playbills” — clever, hugh!) and scenery. Naomi is proofing and editing all the copy. The CD is being mastered as we speak. As soon as I get it back, we’ll get it out to a manufacturer for replication. When the CDs come in, some get sent to CD Baby (our online distributor). That’s where people get the CDs from when they order online. Also, CD Baby gets it onto digital distribution sites like iTunes.
For the scenery, I’m keeping it simple. One 6 by 9 foot backdrop with the show’s logo and all the logos from the various companies I’ve done music for. We found a printer near the theater that will take the art work that I created on the computer—love that Mac. Apple featured me in a story on their website—then the printer will blow it up and print it on canvas.
Meanwhile, Naomi and Stu are gathering up info on all the local newspapers for stories and listings. There’s a timetable for getting these things to the papers. That’s Naomi’s job. She’s spent the last couple of weeks putting together a program for us to follow.
I’ve pretty much got the show memorized. Easy enough to perform in my studio with no one watching. It’s always another thing when there are distractions like lights in your eyes and humans in the audience. We’ll have one day to load in and set up. That means lights have to be put up, seats, wall covering, stage, lobby items (ticket booth, concession) all have to be set up. And I’ll have time for one rehearsal with the lighting technician.
That’s it. The next day — it’s Showtime!
BTW, I know I said in the first post that this show needs to be able to be set up in about an hour or two. It's amazing how things grow. As we progress, more ideas keep popping up to make the show better. And it all adds to rehearsal and set up time.
(Next post)
Just finished this 2 minute teaser for the show.
About a week ago, Dan did us a favor and said some unflattering things about CBS News and Katie Couric. That news was all over the Internet and cable TV so we decided to hurry up and finish the "teaser" and put out a press release while it was still news. Once again, thank you, Dan.
Watch it several times. There are hidden messages everywhere. Tell your friends to go to YouTube and watch and rate it. Rate it HIGH!
Enjoy. (Just kidding about the hidden messages.) ;)
(Next Post)
I finally got up the nerve to perform the show for Naomi and Stu. Kinda like doing a stand-up comedy routine for two people. But they loved it. What a relief. Up till then I was the only one who knew anything about it and I had already spent months memorizing it.
They had a few really good suggestions. Got rid of the second song and replaced it. Actually, recorded a new version of my tribute to 9/11 called "Epilogue" but after I got it done and started rehearsing with it I felt it didn't work. So I searched through the trunk and found an old song I had written for the movie, "The Return Of The Killer Tomatoes". It's called, "Touch Me There". (You can hear it and all the other songs from the show on iTunes.)
For the last few weeks we've been looking for small theaters anywhere between Miami and Boca. Not such an easy task. There are plenty of bigger theaters but only a handful of smaller ones. Another thing we found out was that in order to get reviewers down to see the show we need to be eligible for the Carbonell Awards. They're the local theater awards. And one of the requirements was to have at least twelve performances in three weeks. You also need to pay everyone who you hire. And since we're funding this first run it means more money going out than we expected. So a small theater was vital. The other really important thing was to get the theater in an area that was easily accessible for a large portion of south Florida.
And here's the pimple on the head of the problem: even if we find a perfect theater, we need the right dates available or no one might show up. The big Jewish holidays are in September, Thanksgiving is in November. And Christmas is bringing up the rear. That leaves only a few three week periods we could use. If they're available.
It was beginning to look like we might be doing it in a barn. (We couldn't find any barns either). But then we hit a bright spot. We found a wonderful lady named Meredith Lasher. She's the Prez of the Theatre League of South Florida (of which I happen to be a new member). She was full of information that lead us down the righteous path. She also happened to be running a small theater that just opened for business right in downtown Fort Lauderdale. Great location. Well equipped. And here's the kicker - there were exactly three weeks open right after the Jewish holidays!
The price was right. The people were all really nice and helpful. (Nothing worse than working with asses when you need all the help you can get.) We jumped for it. We took the dates. I don't want to say this theater is small, but you have to go out in the hallway to change your mind (ba-doom)! All kidding aside, this is exactly what we needed. I'll be posting the name of the theater and the dates in the next post.
So now's the easy part. All we have to do is fill the theater with people, reviewers and investors. And we've got three and a half months. Piece o' cake! Right?
Neal
(Next Post)
If my writing seems a bit squashed...we've spent the last three weeks finding out how you put a 4 bedroom house into a 2 bedroom condo.
I won't go into the details of the move. I wouldn't want to make you cry. Needless to say, it's been months of packing, moving and unpacking without a break. Changing licenses, license plates, car insurance, health insurance, appliances that didn't work, relatives needing attention... Sorry. I wasn't going to go into details.
Setting up the studio was no easy task, either. For you techies out there, I sold my digital console and am now going to be mixing "in the box". Bottom line—it's taken about a month longer to set up than I thought. We've got 9 months on our 12 month lease left.
Stu and I started making lists of possible theaters in the area. We want to start real small. We'll be funding it ourselves at first. And I'd rather play to a full 50 seat house than a half full 100 seater.
The weather has been beautiful. We lived the first half of our lives in New York. After 25 years in San Diego we forgot what east coast weather felt like. There's a different smell to the air. And I mean that in a good way. Brings me back to my childhood in Brooklyn.
So now we're just about set up. Things are in place. I've caught up on my email (got several Rolex watches, bought lots of Cialis and my penis is as big as all get-out.) I'll finish learning the show over the next couple of weeks. I still have to show it to Stu and Naomi. So far they're just taking my word that it's genius.
Bye for now.
Neal
Next Post
Pigeonholes was incredible. It had only one problem. It took a day to set up and pull down. Not a lot of time for a show. But our plan was to rent a theater on dark nights (Mondays and Tuesdays) for a month or two, get some press, create a buzz then move to a bigger and better theater and perform on the big nights.
This meant setting up my piano, stool, surround-sound, mics and big screen on a stage that already had a set on it from the main show and using whatever lighting setup they had, too. Fitting in to this scenario proved impossible.
So we came up with an idea that would undercut the undercut. We would go even further to make a show easy and cheap to perform. It would have to be able to be set up the same day as the performance. I would have to be able to do it without a lighting and sound technician. Naomi and Stu would have to handle the crowd, mailing lists and merchandise sales. One of them would also have to do what little lighting cues there would be. It would all have to fit in my Honda Element. And I would have to create it fast! We need to get on stage soon after we set up in Florida because right after we sell the house, the profits from the sale is what we'll be living on.
Now all I needed was an idea. What to do a show about. Well, they always tell you to write about what you know. Mostly what I know is me. My philosophy, beliefs, sense of humor. I needed a string to tie the music together. I racked my brains for a few days and finally came up with the idea that the ups and down of being a composer could be interesting to an audience. Especially if you've been around for a while and had some credits. People might want to know what it's like. And that would also be a natural way to get music into the story.
And instead of writing all new songs for the show, I could make it a review. Take songs from my many CDs that fit the premise. This would make writing the show go much faster and also be a great way to introduce people to my various styles of writing.
Now all I needed was a title and enough ideas to put on a good, entertaining (and possibly enlightening) one and a half hours. The title struck me out of the blue. Thank You, Dan Rather.
Thank you for thirteen years of royalties. Thank you for screwing up and ruining my life. (That last sentence is a joke, for anyone who doesn't know me personally. I never blame anyone else for my circumstances. But as a title, it can evoke both meanings. Thus, making it more memorable.)
The title also might be newsworthy. Or at least create some mystery and stick in your mind. Stu and Naomi loved it. Now they just had to wait for me to write it.
The writing came easy. Memorizing a show where I opened my mouth and didn't stop singing or talking for an hour and a half was the hard part. At present, I'm still perfecting the monologues. I've almost got it down. Just need to get it so down cold that I don't have to think of the words, just perform them.
Well, as I write this, we're waiting for escrow to close so we can make the big move. The next post will be written from sunny Florida. I'm really looking forward to dangling my chad at the next election.
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I spent the first half of my life in Brooklyn, NY. At age 21 I got married to the best friend anyone could ask for. We lived our first few years of marriage in Brooklyn. Then we moved to San Diego to get a new start in life. Twenty five years later we have to sell the old homestead and move back east. Fort Lauderdale Florida. Another new start.
Why Fort Lauderdale? Well, for one, my parents are getting up in age and that's where they live. We've only seen them once a year since we moved out to San Diego. Secondly, my brother is in Miami. And lastly, my friend and partner, Stu Wiener, is also in Southern Florida. All my other siblings live in New Jersey and always come to Florida to visit my folks, so we'll get to see them too.
At this point I have no idea what the theater scene is in Fort Lauderdale. I know it's not a mecca for theater, but we have no choice. This will be our designated place to get the new show off the ground.
From the time we decided to sell the house and move, to the time we actually get on the plane, would be 6 months. I won't go into the details of getting the house sold except to say that it was a very long nightmare. And all the while we couldn't earn a living or get on with our lives. Money was going out fast and nothing would be coming in till we got relocated and put the show on and actually sold tickets.
We're going to miss San Diego. It's a beautiful place. But there was no work to keep us there. And all our family and friends were back east. We'll miss the hills and climate and how people always made fun of the way we tawked.
Goodbye left coast.
(Next)
It's been 6 years since I decided to quit the jingle biz and do what I always wanted to do in the first place. Despite our best efforts we haven't been able to get Pigeonholes a home in a theater even though we got raves from everyone that saw the show or DVD.
While all this has been going on, Dan Rather's ratings have been slip-sliding away thanks to some faux pas that chipped away at his credibility as an anchorman. But on September 8, 2004 Dan made the final fatal blunder. Just weeks before the presidential election, Dan had the proof that George Dubya had a shady military past. The documents turned out to be forgeries.
This, and the fact that Dan took a while to own up to it, was the nail in the coffin. He announced that he was leaving CBS. Bob Schiefer was to be his temporary replacement while they looked for someone permanent.
Holy crap! Would they keep the music? If not, what would I do. I've already spent a lot of cash on getting Pigeonholes to where it is. If I lose the CBS airplay checks, could I get a replacement income fast enough? Was this a blessing in disguise? The fire under my ass to finally get my career going?
The day came when Schiefer took over as anchorman. I watched with baited breath. Ya Ha! They kept the theme music! I got a reprise from the Governor! But how long will it last? Will they keep the theme when they get the new permanent anchorperson?
The ratings for the CBS Evening News started to climb. I got chills. Would this mean they might keep Bob and the theme. After all, they have many years of recognizability in that theme. It wreaks "AUTHORITY".
Then it was made official. CBS found their new savior. Katie Kouric. She would take over starting September of 2006. So, I mustered all my nerves into one ball and made a call to the director of the news program to ask if they were changing the music. They were. I asked if I could be in on the gang-bang. (Gang-bang is the term used when lots of composers are all submitting demos for the same project.) Being that I had written and produced music in the past for CBS (Connie Chung's Eye To Eye, Bryant Gumbel's Public Eye and others) he said sure.
I wrote several themes and sent them off. A few weeks went by and I found out they gave the theme to some young upstart. Some guy who scored Titanic and a few dozen other hit movies.
The shock finally set in. We'll have to sell our house and live off the profits while trying to get my CDs and shows to actually make money. At age 59 we were going to be starting over.
At least we had the house to sell.
(A few days after we decided to sell the house, all the newspaper and TV reports started running stories that the housing market bubble has finally burst. Oh well. We needed a challenge.)
(Next)
How does a mid 50s guy with not a whole lot of hair (don't tell my wife—she's short and hasn't noticed yet), get his music to the public? I could play for $50 a night in bars. Nah! I could go on tour doing concerts but who is going to show up if they never heard of me. And radio? Even big stars from the 70s can't get played. The big record companies are only interested in a quick buck from artists that will be a clone of the last big hit. So what could I do that would bypass all these problems?
Theater! Do a one man show. That would get me back into performing, introduce the public to my music and we could even sell CDs at the show! We would even get a mailing list. Pigeonholes was a brilliant idea. Except for one thing. I hadn't performed for twenty years. And most of the time I was performing I was behind a piano or guitar. I'm no Robin Williams or Whoopi Goldberg. How am I going to keep an audience interested for and hour and a half? It's got to be more than just me playing and singing my songs.
Then this little gem of an idea grew wings. I've always loved art. I've always wanted to get into film or video. What if I took all the things I love to do and put it all into one show. Live performance that interacts with a screen showing my animation and video. The creative possibilities were limitless.
Only one thing—I never did animation or video either. But I'd love to learn. And with the state of technology these days, one man can do almost anything with a computer and the right software. So I bought the latest Mac, got thousands of dollars worth of software and a hundred pounds of manuals and started to write the show and learn my stuff.
It took one year to write the show and record the CD. Then another two years to do the video and animation. Sometimes I'd spend a whole week doing a short piece of animation only to realize it would have been better to do it in a different program. So I'd start over.
During this time, I had no idea if I'd be able to set it all up on a stage. I'm not familiar with projection technology or lighting problems. (How do we keep me well lit without washing out the screen?) Fortunately for me I met a guy named Brad Gardner who knew everything from video and audio to managing a theater. He's even a handy man and Sushi chef. With Brad doing the sound, lights and everything else, I was able to concentrate on performing.
Stu and Naomi (my wife and business manager) and I worked at getting people in to see the show. We needed to get as many theater folk in as possible. We'd be funding two showcases. The first was three nights in San Diego. I won't go through what it took to pull this off, but it was a great success for our purposes. The show worked!
Then it was on to seven performances at the Stella Adler Theater in Hollywood. Stu got his friend, actor-writer, Dominic Oliver to contact all his theater friends. Stu got a hold of all his friends from theater and the music biz, and once again, it came off wonderfully. My head got about three inches wider from all the comments I heard. "Genius!" "Brilliant!" "How can one guy do all that?!" And this was from people in show business. People who don't hand out compliments frivolously. Big shots, too. Fame and fortune, here we come!
I have never seen a reaction to anything I've done like the reaction this show got. Not just a great reaction, but wildly enthusiastic raves! We were all very disappointed that we didn't get an immediate place to perform. We're still looking to get a co-producer or theater to put it up but in the meantime we needed to regroup and find out what to do next. Waiting was never an option.
Meanwhile, I was spending LOTS of money and except for the CBS Evening News checks, there was no other income on the horizon. And Dan's ratings were not good. If they got rid of Dan, would they keep the theme? Or would they want to change everything and start fresh.
Looked like my easy ride was starting to wobble a bit.
(Continued in Part 3)
(Luckily we've got a DVD of the Stella Adler performance. It's available at Amazon.com)
Back in the 70s I was going to be a rock star. I had dozens of songs and over the course of the decade, I got three recording contracts with major labels.
The big-wigs at these labels saw me as the next Barry Manilow. And why not. I wrote ballads, I played piano. But Barry never wrote songs about the destruction of the rain forest, the plight of vets coming home from the war and lady's thighs. Somehow I never quite got the "hit record" thing down. They'd all start out right, but then I'd get bored and the songs would take a right turn right off the pop charts. (Although I did have a top 10 Billboard Dance Club charted record with RCA called, In The Jungle.)
Eventually I needed to start making actual money. So I got into the jingle biz. And the money came fast and (almost) easy. Twenty years went by in a flash.
In the mid 90s I decided I needed to get back to doing something for the love of it. So I began work on a musical. I put together an outline for a script and started writing songs that would fit the concept. Because I was doing this in my "spare" time, it took three years to finish the double CD. I released it on my newly formed record label, Wire Duck Records, and got to work on completing the script.
"On September 8, 2004, just weeks before the presidential election, CBS News anchor, Dan Rather had the proof that George W. Bush had a dubious military past. The documents he used as proof turned out to be fakes. But instead of apologizing, Dan blamed the Republicans.
"I'm Neal Fox, co-writer/producer of the theme music for the CBS Evening News With Dan Rather. For 13 years every time you would hear (plays theme) — cha-ching! Money would go into my pocket. Good money. I came to expect that money. Thank you, Dan."
These are the opening words of my new one-man musical revue, Thank You, Dan Rather.
For 15 years I was a partner in the company, Patterson, Walz & Fox. We did music for hundreds of commercials as well as themes for NBC, CBS, Fox and others.
I co produced the music and wrote some of the "bumpers" for Dan's show but my partner Rick wrote most of the main theme. We all went down as co-writers. That's the way we worked it. No matter which of the partners did the actual writing, we all shared in the BMI (airplay royalties).
So for 13 glorious years I got big fat checks from BMI four times a year. What a gig! Till Dan started making some big anchorman no-nos.
For the most part, I always hated writing music for clients. From the age of 16 I wanted to be a rock star. Write and record my own music. Sell albums and do concerts. By an unfortunate stroke of fate I ended up in the jingle biz. Then the checks started rolling in — and that's how they got me!
Now I could buy the computers, synthesizers, guitars and software I craved. Now I had the tools to make all the music I ever wanted to make. Except now I was working 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, writing for CLIENTS. A real trap. I've got all this stuff—but no time to use it for me.
So, now in my 50s, I quit the jingle biz and decided to change careers. Back to my original dreams. Dan, however, got himself... let's say, he "left" CBS. Now the stakes are raised. The big checks will stop very shortly. That will leave me with almost zero income. Everything depends on succeeding with my new career. Will it be a success, or will I be looking for a job as a Greeter at Wal-Mart?
Stick around. This blog will chronicle the adventure from the beginning: selling our house, moving to Florida, looking for a theater and all it takes to make the show a success.
Click on the link below to hear the opening song and get familiar with the show. Then read the posts in order. Hope to see you at the theater in a few months.
—Neal
(Next Post)
(Click here to hear "Dan, You Da Man", the opening song from the show)
